Tahoe Tales of Historic Times & Unforgettable People

About the Book

This manuscript is a collection of short stories that were originally prepared as part of a radio program that began in the early 1980’s as a summer informational and educational program for Tahoe area residents and visitors. Between 1982 and 1985, the author presented over a hundred live radio features about Tahoe’s history and the environment over Tahoe radio station KTHO. Lane returned to the radio airways in 1995, this time with Tahoe radio station KOWL-AM-1490, and has since broadcast over 3000 radio tales: “Don Lanes Tales of Tahoe.” The book is a distinctive collection of short stories about the colorful people, the characters, the dreamers and schemers that lived and worked in and around Lake Tahoe and the Sierras during the pioneer days of the Gold Rush and during the Comstock Years…people like Mark Twain, Joaquin Murrieta, and Lola Montez. It is also a collection of true stories about the unheralded pioneer men and women that were in their own simple way, inspiring. There are also tales about historic events in our region’s diverse history and off-beat tales about ghosts, bandits and even about true love. The collection of tales weaves serious history with light-hearted stories without editorializing or fictionalizing by the author, as the emphasis has been on historical integrity and authenticity. The stories have been gathered from historical journals, diaries, museum collections, archives and history records. The stories are both entertaining and educational, and hopefully will provide insight into a time long past, and provide a greater awareness and appreciation for the people that have been forgotten over the years as time has passed by.

About the Author

Don Lane has spent over thirty years with the US Forest Service at Lake Tahoe. Responsible for the management of all National Forest campgrounds, wilderness and backcountry areas within the Tahoe Basin, he has instructed courses at the Lake Tahoe Community College on Tahoe natural history, recreation and forestry management, and also lectures at the college’s wilderness institute on regional history. Author of scores of articles on Tahoe area history, Lane frequently gives community presentations on Tahoe history, and also hosts a daily radio feature on KOWL-AM 1490. Called “Don Lane’s Tales of Tahoe,” it focuses on Tahoe’s colorful history.